Edmontonian rebuilds '69 Lotus Elan Plus Two for racing ...

By Aspen Gainer/EDMONTON EXAMINER

Updated 1 day ago

This May, Edmontonian Dave Clark became one of about 1500 people worldwide to own a '69 Lotus Elan Plus Two, a four-seater British-built sports car that Clark intends to convert to a race car.

?I've always wanted a Lotus. It's always intrigued me,? says Clark. ?They were built by a guy named Colin Chapman.?

Chapman, a Brit, founded Lotus Cars in 1952.

?I just really liked his theories on how to build cars. His famous quote is 'Simplify, then add lightness.'?

Chapman's auto design philosophy basically centres around his other famous quote: "Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."

Team Lotus has won a number of race titles and awards by sticking with Chapman's less-is-more philosophy.

?[Chapman] made cars before he died that were very light and nimble and didn't have a lot of horsepower,? says Clark. ?It kind of goes against a lot of other car manufacturers ... where they try to squeeze as much horsepower into the cars as possible.?

Clark's Lotus is a prime example of Chapman's philosophy.

?Basically the car weighs about 1600 pounds. Just for comparisons' sake, there's a new Subaru BRZ?a new lightweight sports car that came out this year?and that's about 2700 pounds, so that's what's considered lightweight these days.?

Clark got into autocross racing a few years ago. He and a friend even travelled to Germany to drive the famous Nurmenburg Ring.

?That's basically the most dangerous race track in the world,? says Clark.

Built in 1927, the track is much longer and narrower with tighter turns than modern tracks.

?It's not the way they build race tracks these days. They build them much safer.?

Clark and a friend rented a race car to drive the track.

?It was exhilarating, one of the best experiences of my life so far, I think. It was a really cool day. It made me want to do it more.?

Last year Clark got into racing 'chump cars' which have to be purchased for less than $500?but then you drop about $8,000 to $10,000 into them to make them race-worthy.

Clark's interest in racing has continued to expand. This year, Clark's communications company Targa Communications (targacom.ca), even had a PR contract with the Northern Alberta Sports Car Club (NASCC) and he did some work at the Edmonton Indy.

Clark is one of only two '69 Lotus Elan Plus Two owners in Alberta. But the prestige of owning a rare car definitely comes with challenges?he got most of his Lotus in a bunch of boxes.

Former owners stripped the car down to the essentials, lost interest and put it up for sale.

?I found another one for sale in Vancouver basically in the same shape as the one I got and he wants $10,000 for it.?

Clark got lucky and bought his for less than that. But right now the car is basically a backbone chassis with the engine block in it.

Clark figures the Elan, which isn't roadworthy right now, could be ready to race in a year or two, depending on how busy he is and how quickly he can get the rare parts.

Although it won't be a true restoration, once Clark is finished his dream car, the little Lotus Elan Plus Two is going to be something else.

Who knows, maybe in a year or two Clark and his Lotus will race in the Edmonton Indy.

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Source: http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3596464

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